Wonky Fruit and Vegetables to Enter EU Market

Specific marketing standards will be removed to allow wonky fruit and vegetables in the European Union.
Wonky Fruit and Vegetables to Enter EU Market
Such wonky fruit and vegetables will be allowed on the EU market from July 1. (Mychele Daniau/AFP/Getty Images)
Jasper Fakkert
6/30/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/83660093vegg.jpg" alt="Such wonky fruit and vegetables will be allowed on the EU market from July 1. (Mychele Daniau/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Such wonky fruit and vegetables will be allowed on the EU market from July 1. (Mychele Daniau/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1827622"/></a>
Such wonky fruit and vegetables will be allowed on the EU market from July 1. (Mychele Daniau/AFP/Getty Images)

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—From the first of July specific marketing standards will be removed for 26 types of fruit and vegetables in the European Union, allowing the sale of curvy cucumbers, curious carrots, and bendy beans.

Last December the European Union Member States voted in favor of commission proposals to cancel specific marketing standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetables. The initiative is part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to simplify EU rules and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.

“It’s a concrete example of our drive to cut unnecessary red tape. We simply don’t need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level… In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties, consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the ‘wrong’ shape,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.

For ten types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, kiwis and nectarines, marketing standards will remain in place. But Member States can for the first time allow shops to sell these products which don’t meet the marketing standards, as long as they are labeled “product intended for processing” or equivalent wording.

 

Jasper Fakkert is the Editor-in-chief of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science and a Master's degree in Journalism. Twitter: @JasperFakkert
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